More misinformation Town aren't prepared to pay big wages, I think we took a gamble on Bullard, which has proved to be a mistake, but seemed like a good bet at the time. Portsmouth were prepared to pay higher wages than us for several players and look where it's got them Stature is not just about trophies (and proper ones at that, your first League Cup was essentially a slight improvement on a JPT), the only clubs (and alongside Clough's Forest) since Town who have achieved what we did in terms of being one of the top clubs in England over a sustained period are Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea and Man United. I think you are understating just how big we were back then and no-one outside the biggest clubs has come close to that in the Premier League era. It wasn't a flash in the pan like Redknapp's Pompey or your own European excursion.
thats all very well yorkie, but again, i'm in my 30s and i can't comprehend how good ipswich were back in the day. i've been involved in football at different clubs and ipswich don't feature high on the agenda of most people. why would any players know about how good ipswich were? why would any players care? it is completely irrelevant that in a distant age your club had some success. the only people it is relevant to is to the supporters who witnessed it and the players who were involved. nobody else. football has changed dramatically and it is now not possible for a club like ipswich to do what they did in the late 70s early 80s. like derby, forest, and others before and after them, trophies are only relevant to players who are considering signing for one of the biggest clubs in the land. people will go to brighton ahead of derby today.
Well just because you're not interested in anything you haven't seen with your own eyes, I would be the same if I had to back Norwich, it doesn't mean that others of us aren't interested in Stanley Matthews, Pele and others and delving back through time. As a kid I had a book of press articles going back through the history of football and there was a fair bit of Ipswich Town in there. Some of us are interested, some of us, understandably, aren't.
thats the thing yorkie - i'm incredibly interested in it all! however, none of us who never saw the likes of matthews or my personal favourite, len shackleton, can possibly comprehend EXACTLY how good they were as we never got to see them with our own eyes. legends build up over time, legends become slightly warped over time too as they get passed down. ipswich are not a big club. they had a very good side for about ten years starting 40 years ago but that is of no relevance to any players about to begin out on their careers. there are unlikely to be more than a handful who would care a jot about what ipswich did 30 years ago. they want to know what is happening now and there is NO WAY that jonny howson, a leeds supporter, captain of his boyhood club and genuinely down-to-earth lad, would choose norwich over leeds UNLESS ambition was the key component in a move. money is also massively important but its the burning desire to play as high as you can which gets players to sign for clubs, not how many trophies the club won 30 years ago. leeds have always been a more successful club than city but times change.
i'm actually quite staggered by the ipswich mentality and total delusion with regards trophies. despite the bravado, there is not a single norwich fan who would not wish our own club had won the three trophies ipswich have. however, this idea that it somehow has relevance today is completely nuts! in fact, i would say it makes 0% difference when a player is deciding whether to move to ipswich today. all it means is that your stadium tour takes two or three minutes longer and the cleaner runs out of polish more often. it doesn't actually help you sign players because they don't have any affinity to the era which they harp on about. more recent successes, such as middlesbrough or birmingham may have an affect but not something before they were born!
Town fans are actually using 30 year old trophies as ammunition in an argument? Yes those glory days were great, but they are a long time gone. I bet more than half of the ITFC fans on this board were not even born then. Those trophies have no relevance today. I bet 95% of everyday young people are not even aware that Ipswich won a UEFA cup.Bringing them into this topic just smells of desperation.
the Egyptians and Incas have a damn good heritage but I dont think their cultures are relevant anymore, bit like 1p5wiches trophy cabinet, irrelevant history for small minds
a top player would be more likely to sign for chelsea than liverpool these days. you could say its cos they pay more money but surely, in the world of an ipswich fan, that player will sign for liverpool because they've won more trophies... its actually cos they have more chance of winning the league at chelsea - not that you'd know it this season!
Why keep using the Jonny Howson argument? You're in the Prem so obviously that's a major factor and apart from one season Liverpool haven't competed for the title for ages.
Just walked in the door, but my oath, how tedious this thread has become As we all know, this 'debate' could wrangle on for decades and there would still be no outright winner.
